Fate
by Twistedstep
Summary: We had found each other by fate. Now, we are separated forever. I left him, I shouldn't have, but now I've found someone new. What happens when my past catches up to me? Rated T for blood.
1. Chapter 1

The pain.

The thorns in my pads. The claw and bite marks all over my body. The gash across my left eye that's obscuring my vision. I know that without treatment, I'll go blind. Without treatment, I'll be dead in a few days.

But I just can't get the scene out of my head. The whirling of claws, the gnashing of teeth. The pain. I was caught off-guard, and I had to run. Now I don't know where I am or how to get home. Not that I'd want to.

I stumble wearily along, my body not even responding to the ache in my legs anymore. I should stop, but the fear of them coming for me again keeps me going. Birds chirp overhead, but I take no notice. A squirrel nibbles on a beechnut to my left, but in my state I don't think I can even run, let alone catch prey.

More pain. I look down, and find I've trodden on another thorn. I grit my teeth as my body tells me to stop, while my body yells at me to_ get out of there_. I ignore my brain, and sit heavily onto the roots of a tree. I lift my white paw up, grasping the thorn in my jaws. It's almost as long as a cat's claw. I yank with all my strength, but it doesn't come out. If anything, I wedged it in further, and I tug harder. A splatter of blood splashes on my nose, and I know I've pulled it out. I move on the others, hazily piling them under a shrub so I won't step on them again.

I then begin to clean myself. I wish I could just fall over and sleep, but I can't sleep with my pelt all bloody. I run my tounge over my black flank and grimace at the sour taste of my own blood. All my scratches sting, and I carefully dab at them with my paw. They'll get infected if I don't find some herbs, but that can wait until the morning.

I scan the area for bedding. I rip some moss from the roots of a tree and fashion myself a makeshift nest. I sat down in it and wrapped my black and white-tipped tail around my nose, waiting for sleep to come.

_I was walking down to the stream near my barn to cool my paws from the greenleaf heat. I've just stepped in when I hear a snarl of defiance, a hiss of fury, then a yowl of pain. I scramble out of the river and race over to my barn, where I see cats swarming the barn. A particularly large one emerges from the doorway, holding a bloody, black-and-white body in their jaws. _

_Barley's body._

_I snarl at them, and leap into battle, trying to avenge Barley's death. However, the cats are too much for me to take on all by myself, and I get severely wounded across my eye. I try to escape through the doorway again, but the cats have surrounded me. I look around for another way out, and I spot the loft. I bundle my legs underneath me, launching myself as high as I can to reach it. I nearly slip off, but I dig my claws into the wood and pull myself up. _

_I then shoot out of an upper window, and land in a thornbush. Dripping in blood from thorns and scrapes, I half stagger, half run across the moor. The rouge cats take up the chase, and I soon fall behind. Once I am sure that I'm off on my way to StarClan, I enter a forest and I feel at home again. I scamper into a hollow tree and settle down to wait. The cats come and leave, leaving me to lick my wounds and to hope I won't die. _

_I emerge from the tree trunk and survey my surroundings. It's not a dense forest, but enough of a forest that I can't see the moor or my barn anymore, nor do I know which way is out. I pick a random direction, and set off hesitantly, not sure if they'd come back or not._

**...**

I sleep fitfully, tossing and turning as I remember the chain of events that led me here. A drop of water lands on my nose, and I find that it's raining. I'm soaked to the bone. I get up out of my nest, stretch, and shake some of the water off of my pelt.

An owl hoots overhead, and I remember the kit-tales I was told in the nursery when I was still in the Clans. _Owls are omens of danger and evil. _

I shake my head to rid my mind of these thoughts. _I'm going to be fine. The cats are far, far away._

I set off at a half walking, half limping pace once again. Not long after, I smell prey. My hunting instincts kick in, as I crouch down, opening my mouth to better pinpoint the animal's location.

It's a bit to my left, so I turn my body the tiniest bit, and see that it's a tiny-looking bird, probably a sparrow or a thrush. It won't keep my hunger at bay for that long, but it'll have to do.

I place my paws in front of me carefully, making sure not to make any noise. Once I'm a tail-length from the bird, I leap.

I can feel some of my scratches open back up from the physical labor, but right now, I don't care.

I sink my claws into the bird, cutting off it's last cry of life. I sink my jaws into its body, and it tastes so good.

After I'm finished wtih my meager meal, I lick my fur down. I feel reengergized, so I begin to trot through the trees.

**...**

A few hours into my journey, nothing has attacked me, I've found plenty of prey, so I'm feeling pretty optimistic. I survey my surroundings, taking in the pretty willow trees, the swampy ground, and the rushing rivers.

Then, I hear a snarl from behind me.

**A/N: How's that for an agonizing cliffhanger? I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of _Fate_!**

**Reviews are always welcome.**

**Love, Twistedstep.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short...but it was a quick update!**

**Enjoy :3**

**...**

I whip around, searching for the source of the snarl. I don't have to look for very long.

A lean, muscled black tom stands on the bank of the river, his teeth bared in a growl. Surrounding him were several other fierce-looking cats; a gray tabby she-cat, a small light brown tom, and a slender white she-cat that stood slightly apart from the rest of the group.

"Who are you and what are you doing on our territory?" The black tom spat, his blue eyes flashing. I shrank away. I really wasn't in the mood to fight.

"I'm just passing through." I mumbled, trying not to sound as nervous as I actually was.

The black tom stalked up to me. I could see that his claws were unsheathed, and I knew that I didn't want to be on the other side of them.

"Just passing through, hm?" He mused, examining me. "What happened to your eye?" Oh right, I forgot about my eye. I couldn't even feel the pain anymore, so I assumed that that was a bad thing.

"I, uh, scraped it on some brambles." I stuttered. I was never good at lying. The white she-cat and the black tom let out little mrowws of laughter.

"Brambles, right. You know, that looks really bad. You should come back to our camp with us and get it checked out." The gray she-cat suggested. I shook my head quickly.

"No, that's okay. I'll just be going now." I replied, and began to back away. The black tom snorted.

"If that's what you want." He turned away, and headed right to a river. The other cats followed him _right into the river_. These cats could swim! _Why does that seem so familiar?_

I continued across the marshy grounds.

After a lot of walking,I had found a barn. I had never seen anything more beautiful in my life. I stumbled inside, and there didn't seem to be any threatening cats, so I curled up on some hay that was in a corner.

**...**

When I woke up, there was a pretty gray-and-white she-cat leaning over me. I muffled a yowl as I felt some of my scratches sting. She must have been cleaning them.

"Hello, who are you?" She asked softly.

"I'm Ravenpaw. What about you?" I tried to reply, but my voice crackled, my throat hoarse. I cleared it, and tried again. "Ravenpaw. And you?"

"Ravenpaw? That's an odd name. Did you come from the Clans of wild cats that live around the lake? I know they give their, uh, apprentices that type of name." She didn't answer my question, but I was more interested by the answer she did give.

"You mean there are Clans here?" The cats that had cornered me on the marsh were probably from the Clans!

"Yes. They came here many, many moons ago, telling tales of nofurs, I mean, twolegs, destroying their old forest. My sister, Daisy, went to live with one of the Clans. I wonder how she's doing." The gray-and-white she-cat mumble reminiscently.

"Do you live here alone?" I questioned her. It must get pretty lonely around here if you're the only cat in the barn.

"Yes, I am. My mate, Smokey, died not too long ago. Oh, and my name is Floss."

"Floss. Well, I'm all alone, too. My own barn was taken over by rougue cats, and my old partner Barley was killed." I looked down at my paws with difficulty. My eye had nearly swollen over.

"That's really sad, Ravenpaw. You're welcome to stay here with me. It gets awfully quiet around here with no one else." I looked at her gratefully.

"Thank you, thank you, Floss. I'd love to. But first, I'll have to do something with my eye. It might be infected." Floss took a closer look at my eye.

"I know a little bit about medicine and herbs, and I do believe that it is infected. You'll need to get some herbs on that, pronto. I think marigold will do the trick. I'll be right back, there's some in a garden outside." She trotted outside, returning moments later with a bunch of marigold clamped in her jaws.

"You know, Floss, you're being very nice to me. I come stumbling in here, half dead, and you take me right in. We talk for a little bit, and you offer to let me stay here. And now you're fixing my eye. What can I do to repay you?"

"You don't have to do anything to repay me, Ravenpaw. It's about time something interesting happened around here. I'm happy to help." Floss replied, rubbing marigold on my injured eye.

"If you're sure. Thanks."

**...**

"Here, Floss. I caught this for you." I dropped a plump squirrel at the gray-and-white she-cat's feet.

"Why, thank you. Squirrel is my favorite. But where did you get it?" Floss replied, a worried look in her blue eyes.

"In the small patch of woods next to the river. It's running with squirrels." I answered, "Why do you look so scared?"

Floss shook her head. "You shouldn't have gone there. That's one of the Clans' territories. They'll rip you to shreds if they catch you hunting their prey." She warned, drawing a gray paw over her ears.

"Don't worry, Floss. I know the ways of the Clans. I used to live there, once. If there's someone unfamililar on their territory, of course they'll chase them off, but they won't kill them. That's part of the warrior code." I explained.

"The warrior code? What's that?" Floss asked, settling down into the hay.

"Well, Floss, let me tell you."

**...**

**A/N: This was kind of a lame chapter...oh well. I hope it was okay.**

**Reviews are always welcome.**

**Love, Twistedstep.**


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